Ayinger Liebhards Kellerbier

Brewed by Brauerei Aying
Style: Zwickel/Keller/Landbier
Aying, Germany

If in Munich, visit Ayingers Speis und Trank or "Feed and Drink" which is their wirtshaus or pub. This place is in a very handy location as it is directly across the street from the Hofbrauhaus. This Munich outlet pours the full range of Ayinger beers, and it is an absolutely beautiful place to enjoy some beers and a fine meal in. Ayinger beers can be found in a number of markets in the US, but one beer you will not find here in the States is Liebhard’s Kellerbier. Kellerbier is an unfiltered lager that has a very soft carbonation, and more hop bitterness that most German pale lagers or helles. I was very fortunate to enjoy a few ceramic steins of Liebhard’s Kellerbier at the beautiful bar at Speis Un Trank, and it was a very memorable experience. They say timing is everything, and I was in the right place, at the right time, and actually got to watch the bartender tap a fresh wooden barrel of this beer. As he hammered in the spigot with a wooden mallet, and a pressure release on the top of the barrel, I watch this beer pour from gravity. My patience was rewarded when a 1/2 liter was served up to me nice and cold, in a traditional ceramic stein. Liebhard’s Kellerbier pours to a hazy, pale golden color with a thick white head, and a soft carbonation. The nose on this beer is very pleasing with grassy herbal hop aromas. The palate is soft and full on the tongue with lots of good pale malt flavors on a very soft and round body. Liebhard’s Kellerbier finishes with more soft pale malt flavors up front, then ends with a nice, herbal, grassy hop bitterness that lingers. This is a fantastic kellerbier, one that you could pound with impunity. This beer is just so fresh and flavorful, and the soft carbonation and body makes it just so drinkable. The gentle hop bite rouses the appetite, and makes for a perfect beer to have before and with a meal. I quickly drained three half liters, and could have sat at the bar at Ayinger, and drank this beer all night long. If you find yourself in Munich, a visit to Ayinger Speis Un Trank is a must visit. If you have time, it would be well worth the trip out to Aying to visit the brewery itself.

On tap at Ayinger Speis und Trank. Transparent pale gold with a sudsy and foamy white head. Spicy hop aroma with some curt lemon-squeezes over sourdough crust. Enticing, enlisting force, aromatically in tune with scrapings from lime skin, freesia and lavender. Such a poetic floral statement that leads up to the flavor. Wholesome entourage with a perfumey hop profile. Sweet lemon rind pressed over hearty sourdough crust. There’s a pils muskiness, but its entreaties confine themselves to the pure glory of a cellared German lager. Corn stalks, wheat fields and cotton blossoms dispersing into summer’s harvest. Lilacs and daffodils give notice to the floral accents upon us. That cotton is revisited in terms of the begging and pleading mouth sensations. Pure, crisp and flavorful projections enforce effervescent perfection. Finish gives credit to starch, potato bread, bakery floors and sweet buttered hardrolls. Damn if this isn’t the epitome of Kellerbiers and German lagers.

Bottled at RBESG. Hazy pale golden. Bready malt aroma. Light bodied with wonderfully soft mouthfeel. The excellent maltiness with notes of butter is accompanied by grassy hops. Well balanced, very drinkable and very good.

@ the brewery’s Munich tap. Cloudy with a thick head. Herbal, hoppy, very appetizing nose. with good house character and quite a bit of fresh bread. Dry, malty, quite lean but retains some rusticity.

Pours hazy copper with a decent white head. Amells nutty with some malty character. Taste is of earthy hops, malt, biscuits, and some perfumy hints. Mouthfeel is syruppy. Finish is more earthy hops.

The first time I had it I was wowed, this blonde, unfiltered kellerbier stood its ground against the beefy, hoppy Oktoberfest bier had on tap at the brewery outlet in Munich. Surprisingly delicious, the kellerbier is an extraordinary example of how wonderful Bavarian beers can be. I’d move to Munich in an instant because of brews like these. Grainy, fresh body that transcends trendiness.

re-rate. Hazy yellow and bright with thick white rocky-lacy head. Bright kellerbier aroma is more similar to Frankenbier thank I thought, with farm-fresh grains and has a granular palate to boot. Yeah, it’s as good as I remembered.

Beautiful body (crystal clear), incredible head; Not to big a nose, but typically Ayinger it has an incredible balance, well made and deep, some grain ,hop and actually a bit fruity riesling; Soft carbonation but quite a bit of it, balanced body; Into long dry finish, again hop and malt. Another incredibly well made German beer, that is a great pleasure to drink.

Vom fass @ Ayinger speis und trank, München, Germany.
Second up after their magnificent Doppelbock and after polishing off a side of nibblies. It produced bright in the stein - a sunny gold, quite pale, with intermittent, sluggish and minute bubbles. Head, the art of the gifted Bavarians, was your standard two-fingers and messy, weaving strange globules of froth down the glass as it went. Flowery rose petal waft on first sniff, some honey trails - it smells of summer. Seamless fresh toasted bread and dusty, haystack grains lift in from underneath, clean and well defined. Hops, not evident on the nose are truly swimming in the flavour. The body is light, it is spritzy and bounces across the palate in zero gravity. A lot of flavour here - light esteric sweetness of candied fruit upfront (Starburst!?!), ample pale grains, light toasted malt edge. Flowery again like the aroma, tangy as it hits the sides. Good earthy, resinous hops play in and blend well, back end is all dry and musty, fruit dries out. Gentle bitterness on the swallow, the carbonation aids in making it crisp, the length nothing more than some earthy, noble hops that linger and draw in just enough saliva for another sip. A simple Kellerbier that did its job quite wonderfully. Another good day in München, ’another beer please, meine ober!?!’